The Last Elder
by rrj2
Summary: In the unchanged future dominated by Wyatt, Leo converses with a new prison guard about Chris.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, all, and thanks for dropping by. To be honest, I'm not sure what I've done here. It's mostly just a stream-of-consciousness thing instead of a real story, but I still decided to post it. It fits into the fanon my previous story, Red Valerian, but it's completely standalone.

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Chapter 1

Leo watched as a younger woman approached his prison cell. She was carrying a tray of food and a bottle of water

"Your lunch," the woman said. After she set down the food, she took the used tray from breakfast.

"Thank you," Leo replied. He took a sip of water and started on his meal before noticing that the woman was still outside his cell, watching him.

"Are you new?" Leo asked.

"To this prison, but I've been serving the empire for a long time."

"How'd you get this gig?"

"Wyatt has become distrustful of me."

Leo continued eating with an audience.

"Never thought you'd see an Elder eating this, did you?"

"No."

"What's your name?" Leo asked.

A brief moment of silence passed.

"My name is Lynn. And no, I wasn't sure if Elders even ate."

"There are a lot of limitations placed on me now," Leo replied. "Wyatt's doing."

"And the Duke's too, I suppose."

"Yeah, he probably had a role in this, not that it surprises me."

"I understand that you and the Duke did not have the best of relationships," Lynn commented.

Leo hesitated, but then realized that a part of him enjoyed the company.

"No, we didn't. I . . . I didn't have a favorite child, no matter what anyone says, but I definitely acted like I did. I didn't see what I was doing until it was too late."

"Isn't it ironic that Wyatt ended up being the evil one?"

"I think it's time for you to go," Leo said.

Lynn didn't respond. She simply turned away and left.

Later, when dinner came, Lynn arrived at Leo's cell. Without a word, she took the lunch tray and gave Leo dinner before departing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lynn presented Leo his breakfast and again, remained to watch him eat.

"Do you have something to say or to ask me?" Leo asked.

"No," Lynn replied. "It looks like you have something to ask me."

"What did you mean by Wyatt being the evil one?"

"Are you not aware of where you are? Or what's happening outside?"

"That's not what I meant," Leo clarified. "The implication behind that statement is that Chris isn't evil."

"I suppose you could interpret it that way."

"Is that what you meant?"

"Don't know. Even if you didn't treat him as well as you did Wyatt, you're still his father. What do you think?"

Wyatt looked at Lynn, expressionless.

Lynn turned away.

"Wait," Leo requested. "I can't deny that Wyatt is evil. I guess there would be some comfort in thinking that Chris isn't. I just don't know if it's a delusion or not. I'd like to believe it."

"Then say that Chris isn't evil. What evidence do you have?"

"He's hardly ever involved with Wyatt's empire, at least publicly," Leo answered. "When he does make an appearance, he doesn't appear very comfortable."

"Do you think he approves of what is happening?" asked Lynn.

"I can't say."

"And what if he doesn't? What if he isn't evil? What would that mean? How would things be different?"

"Well, Chris is in a position to do something."

"No, he's not."

"Wyatt is right there next to him."

"You want him to oppose Wyatt?" Lynn asked incredulously.

"Why not?"

"Wyatt has killed everyone who went against him, including his sister. Now you want to send Chris to his death, too? At this point, I'm comfortable telling you that you are a terrible father."

Lynn dropped a folder on the ground and walked away.

In the folder, Leo found printouts of news stories pertaining to Chris. He spent hours looking over them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Leo stared at Lynn.

"What?" Lynn asked.

"Interesting reading," Leo said, referring to the news printouts. "They don't seem like propaganda."

"They're not. Those are legitimate news sources. A lot of real journalists write about Chris."

"You've been referring to Wyatt and Chris so casually. That didn't escape my attention."

"Not everyone here supports Wyatt and not everyone here puts the brothers on a pedestal."

"You did it again. Sometimes, you refer to them as a unit and sometimes you don't. You didn't when you were talking about alignment."

Lynn just looked at Leo.

"Isn't this the part where you tell me I'm reading too much into it?"

Lynn shrugged slightly.

"Chris really isn't evil. He is trying to fix this, isn't he? Does he need my help?"

"That's it? That's all it took to convince you?"

"That's all it took for me to maybe give you the benefit of the doubt. Like I said, I'd like to believe. So, does Chris need my help?"

"What if we needed advice on how to proceed?" Lynn asked quietly after a few seconds.

Leo looked around.

"We're alone," Lynn assured. "I made sure of it."

"What ideas do you have?"

"I suggested that Chris travel back in time to prevent Wyatt from turning evil."

"You think Wyatt was corrupted."

"Yeah."

"We did, too. The Elders considered traveling to the past, but Wyatt cast a barrier that prevents time travel."

"None of these rules ever apply to Chris. Otherwise, I'd want to go, too."

"Of course," Leo realized. "Have you two decided when Chris will travel to?"

"He wants to stop the Titans. We've decided that's a good place to start."

"That's before he was conceived," Leo said.

"Yeah."

"That's dangerous. He'll need access to Wyatt, but could end up creating a paradox."

"He won't tell anyone who he is," Bianca replied.

"How is he going to be in the Charmed Ones' lives enough to look over Wyatt without blowing his cover?"

"You tell us."

Leo contemplated the scenario for a few silent minutes.

"He needs to get rid of me and become their Whitelighter. Banish me someplace without anyone seeing and without anyone being able to track me. He can do that."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Valhalla," responded Leo.

"I'll take this idea to him and see what he thinks. We'll develop it further."

Lynn began to depart, but Leo stopped her.

"Who are you? To Chris, I mean. You seem to care a lot about him."

"I'm his girlfriend, and yeah, I care about him."

"Thanks, Lynn."

"My name's Bianca."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Bianca returned with food. "Wyatt will have you killed, soon."

"I've been thinking," Leo began. "This will be too much for Chris."

"What do you mean?"

"He shouldn't do it," Leo answered.

"Why not?"

"It's too risky. He can do a lot behind Wyatt's back in his current position. If he time travels, he's going to out himself."

"He's going back to change the present. It doesn't matter what Wyatt finds out."

"But what if Chris fails? What if Wyatt goes back to get him?"

"Chris is willing to accept the consequences, if there are any."

"That's a big 'if.'"

"No, it's not."

"I don't want him to take the chance and I don't want him to be around his family anonymously."

"It won't be like that," Bianca countered.

"He's not going to be a part of the family. Can you imagine what that will be like? He'll finally be reunited with his mother and his aunts, but they won't treat him like part of the family. Do you realize how much that's going to hurt him?"

"I don't have to. Chris is already expecting it. He's willing to do it."

"Listen," Leo began.

"Did you hear what I said? When I first arrived?"

"Yeah, Wyatt's going to kill me. Is Chris going to step in?"

"Do you want him too?"

"No. Does he want to?"

"He doesn't need to if he goes back to the past."

"That's not what I asked," Leo said.

"Of course he wants to intervene," replied Bianca. "He might hate you, but he doesn't want you dead. How could you doubt him like that?"

"So what is he going to do?"

"Go back to the past, now to save you as well."

"Then why did you tell me that?"

"We're pretty sure you'll be dead before he succeeds. He wanted you to be prepared."

Leo paused for a few seconds. "I'm not surprised."

"Are you angry? Sad?"

"I'm just disappointed," Leo answered.

Bianca sensed someone appear behind her.

"When is this going to happen?" Leo asked.

"I don't know," Bianca answered.

"Now," said Chris. "Wyatt sent me here to get you. He thought I'd enjoy this."

"Chris," Leo barely let out. "It's been a while."

"Yeah," Chris responded.

"How could you join him, Chris?"

"Seriously?" Chris questioned. "This is the first time you've talked to me in years and you want to criticize me?"

"No, but Bianca said you weren't evil. She said you were trying to change things and we're formulating a plan. Both of us. Now that you're here, I'm just trying to reconcile everything in my head, Chris, because I do believe. I do. I just wanted to understand."

Bianca watched Chris as the latter let seconds pass without an answer.

"I couldn't oppose him," Chris finally said. "I didn't have the power to do that, but if I joined him, I'd be able to keep him in check. I could even sabotage some of his bigger plans."

"Chris is known around here for his mercy when he leads raids," Bianca added. "He's also been transporting people to safety. He's saved a lot of people."

"You don't have to go back to the past, Chris," advised Leo. "There has to be another way to fix this without putting yourself through all the pain you'll feel."

Chris shook his dead. "I already feel that every time I think about our family, or walk through the museum that used to be home, or think about everyone who died. This is the right thing to do."

"Is . . . anyone left from the family?" Leo asked.

"Uncle Henry was, the last time I checked. Wyatt didn't care too much about him since he's a mortal. I lost track of him a while ago."

"What have you done to look for him?"

"Nothing. Anonymity protects him. I want him to stay protected."

A demon shimmered in.

"My Duke."

"We'll be there soon," said Chris. "Go away."

The demon complied while Chris unlocked the door and Leo stepped out.

"Stick with Wyatt's script," Leo advised. "Just let him kill me. Don't give him any reason to doubt you."

Chris nodded.

"I'm sorry I wasn't a better father."

"Maybe I'll get to fix that in the past, too."

Chris orbed Leo to a courtyard, where Wyatt stood with a small crowd. Chris walked away from Leo towards Wyatt and began to orb.

"Not staying?" Wyatt asked.

Chris shook his head and orbed to his suite, where Bianca was waiting for him.

"You'll succeed, and then none of this will happen."

Chris hugged Bianca until he heard a blast outside. Then, he hugged Bianca more tightly.

Bianca kept her grip on Chris, letting Chris console himself with her for as long as he needed.

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Thank you very much for reading. I hope this was okay.


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